Hi guys, new to the forum and really glad I found this place.
As you can see this is my first post and I wanted to ask a couple of questions for those of us who would like to perform some basic maintenance on our RSX.
Anyone with the time and knowledge to share anything here, I would be deeply appreciative of your patience and energy.
I am not a car enthusiast, although I do love my RSX. It is a 2004 Premium Automatic Canadian model and I've had it since 2004 til now when I first purchased it brand new.
My car is currently sitting at 120k km mileage.
I am sort of slow and passive with things as I've never been too big of a techie or good with machines but times are tough and I am starting to feel the pinch of the wallet so I am looking to save some money wherever I can. Major things, I will probably still take the car into a shop.
I follow Youtube tutorials whenever I can but it seems I can not find many tutorials for base RSX. Most of them are for the RSX Type-S.
I'd like to ask these questions below and if any of you have links, tutorials, resources to share, that'd be awesome. The Helm's manual is great but sometimes, I just need someone to guide.
Mind you, I did do a search on this forum before trying to ask these questions but I don't think they quite answered it fully or were slightly off.
---
1. OE vs OEM vs Aftermarket O2 Sensors.
It's just a hunch, and until I buy a OBDII reader / scanner, I won't know for sure what my CEL means. I am also planning to buy the BlueDriver OBDII by Lemur so if anyone has experience with that or feedback, I am all ears.
Its symptoms are similar to what the related threads in here described in terms of intermittent CEL coming on and off (In relations to O2 Sensors) and than finally a solid CEL for days or weeks or even months before randomly turning off again.
I suspect my O2 sensors are shot but unsure which ones - primary or secondary or maybe both. Car drives fine with CEL on - no big issues except when the CEL is on, mileage tends to get a little worse and I can't rev past 4k.
My main question for this part is where do you guys buy your O2 sensors from - best prices - and also would you recommend Denso and NGK over Honda's own stuff? I can pick up from down states so all sources are welcomed.
Ever since I began my journey of maintaining my own car 3 months ago - doing oil / transmission changes - OEM vs After market has been a hot topic in car forums.
I called Acura the other day and they told me for primary O2 sensor - get Honda. They did not mention Denso or NGK. For secondary, the guy recommended NGK.
What are your takes on this? I want to drive my car for as long as I can so I do not mind spending a little extra money on good parts as long as they work good with the RSX.
2. Engine Antifreeze, Steering Fluid.
I am slightly color blind and looking through the tanks at times is difficult because it's opaque and the colors therefore blend together. I try to do my best with contrast but there are limits on top of general ignorance with my car currently.
Can anyone here give me a quick run around on how to change the anti-freeze and steering fluid on a RSX?
Reason being is when I looked into both tanks, I did not see anything inbetween the min / max lines. I am not sure if I was looking into the right tank for the antifreeze as the tank I looked into might also have been the antifreeze reserve tank.
The steering fluid tank is sitting in a clear spot but that also did not indicate anything in-between the min / max line.
The Antifreeze tank I looked into was white and sitting right around the radiator area - or so I presume - in front of the car.
The car's temperature and steering are currently all fine and normal - it's really cold up here in the sub-zero area so I don't know if that is affecting anything but engine temperature is not even at the 50% mark - around 35%.
The antifreeze, I do not think, has ever been changed since I bought the car although I do not remember if it was ever topped up in the past.
Also, another question comes to mind here - for the antifreeze and power steering fluids - should I go with OEM Honda brand or after market? I can't seem to find OEM antifreeze on Ebay - my main source currently for auto stuff.
3. Engine Oil Question.
Since my car is 120k km mileage, I did a oil change a month ago and put in Castrol High Mileage Synthetic Blend. At first I thought this was full synthetic but than I realised blend meant not full.
First things first, is it normal for new engine oil to turn dark brown after only 1000 km? Nothing sounds out of place and engine runs fine but just curious since first thing I learned about engine oil change is if it's dark brown - change it.
Second thing is since I originally wanted to put in full synthetic oil, I am planning to prematurely change my engine oil again - after winter ends - and put in full synthetic. Would this be ok?
Also, should I bother buying OEM Honda Engine Oil for my RSX? Acura does sell them - not sure if they're synthetic though but I do want to start putting full synthetic into my car from now on. In the past, I think out of all of my oil changes it's been back and forth between full synthetic and conventional - depending on my wallet. Mostly conventional from Mr. Lube since their Synthetic packages are nearly 80 bucks after taxes and fees etc.
4. Fog Lights.
I don't really want to cut my bumpers but I can not find any OEM fog lights online for the 2004 RSX. The ones on Ebay all seem to want me to slice up my bumper...
Anyone know a way around this? The weather is quite bad here nowadays and visibility is terrible and I want to add some fog lights to my RSX.
5. Brake Pads and Rotors.
I had my brake pads and rotors changed at a shop around a year ago and these days, watching Youtube videos has made me realise that changing brakes seems not too hard.
My questions are:
A. Do we have to change rotors every time as well?
B Lifespan of the average rotor?
C. Best value and type of brake pads for a car in general or RSX in general?
D What's the best lubricants and anti-seize and other fluids to use during brake maintenance / replacement? Some say use copper only for anti-seize etc.
I think these are all the things I plan to do in the coming months after my cold winter passes.
Thank you for taking the time to read my thread.
:fistbump:
As you can see this is my first post and I wanted to ask a couple of questions for those of us who would like to perform some basic maintenance on our RSX.
Anyone with the time and knowledge to share anything here, I would be deeply appreciative of your patience and energy.
I am not a car enthusiast, although I do love my RSX. It is a 2004 Premium Automatic Canadian model and I've had it since 2004 til now when I first purchased it brand new.
My car is currently sitting at 120k km mileage.
I am sort of slow and passive with things as I've never been too big of a techie or good with machines but times are tough and I am starting to feel the pinch of the wallet so I am looking to save some money wherever I can. Major things, I will probably still take the car into a shop.
I follow Youtube tutorials whenever I can but it seems I can not find many tutorials for base RSX. Most of them are for the RSX Type-S.
I'd like to ask these questions below and if any of you have links, tutorials, resources to share, that'd be awesome. The Helm's manual is great but sometimes, I just need someone to guide.
Mind you, I did do a search on this forum before trying to ask these questions but I don't think they quite answered it fully or were slightly off.
---
1. OE vs OEM vs Aftermarket O2 Sensors.
It's just a hunch, and until I buy a OBDII reader / scanner, I won't know for sure what my CEL means. I am also planning to buy the BlueDriver OBDII by Lemur so if anyone has experience with that or feedback, I am all ears.
Its symptoms are similar to what the related threads in here described in terms of intermittent CEL coming on and off (In relations to O2 Sensors) and than finally a solid CEL for days or weeks or even months before randomly turning off again.
I suspect my O2 sensors are shot but unsure which ones - primary or secondary or maybe both. Car drives fine with CEL on - no big issues except when the CEL is on, mileage tends to get a little worse and I can't rev past 4k.
My main question for this part is where do you guys buy your O2 sensors from - best prices - and also would you recommend Denso and NGK over Honda's own stuff? I can pick up from down states so all sources are welcomed.
Ever since I began my journey of maintaining my own car 3 months ago - doing oil / transmission changes - OEM vs After market has been a hot topic in car forums.
I called Acura the other day and they told me for primary O2 sensor - get Honda. They did not mention Denso or NGK. For secondary, the guy recommended NGK.
What are your takes on this? I want to drive my car for as long as I can so I do not mind spending a little extra money on good parts as long as they work good with the RSX.
2. Engine Antifreeze, Steering Fluid.
I am slightly color blind and looking through the tanks at times is difficult because it's opaque and the colors therefore blend together. I try to do my best with contrast but there are limits on top of general ignorance with my car currently.
Can anyone here give me a quick run around on how to change the anti-freeze and steering fluid on a RSX?
Reason being is when I looked into both tanks, I did not see anything inbetween the min / max lines. I am not sure if I was looking into the right tank for the antifreeze as the tank I looked into might also have been the antifreeze reserve tank.
The steering fluid tank is sitting in a clear spot but that also did not indicate anything in-between the min / max line.
The Antifreeze tank I looked into was white and sitting right around the radiator area - or so I presume - in front of the car.
The car's temperature and steering are currently all fine and normal - it's really cold up here in the sub-zero area so I don't know if that is affecting anything but engine temperature is not even at the 50% mark - around 35%.
The antifreeze, I do not think, has ever been changed since I bought the car although I do not remember if it was ever topped up in the past.
Also, another question comes to mind here - for the antifreeze and power steering fluids - should I go with OEM Honda brand or after market? I can't seem to find OEM antifreeze on Ebay - my main source currently for auto stuff.
3. Engine Oil Question.
Since my car is 120k km mileage, I did a oil change a month ago and put in Castrol High Mileage Synthetic Blend. At first I thought this was full synthetic but than I realised blend meant not full.
First things first, is it normal for new engine oil to turn dark brown after only 1000 km? Nothing sounds out of place and engine runs fine but just curious since first thing I learned about engine oil change is if it's dark brown - change it.
Second thing is since I originally wanted to put in full synthetic oil, I am planning to prematurely change my engine oil again - after winter ends - and put in full synthetic. Would this be ok?
Also, should I bother buying OEM Honda Engine Oil for my RSX? Acura does sell them - not sure if they're synthetic though but I do want to start putting full synthetic into my car from now on. In the past, I think out of all of my oil changes it's been back and forth between full synthetic and conventional - depending on my wallet. Mostly conventional from Mr. Lube since their Synthetic packages are nearly 80 bucks after taxes and fees etc.
4. Fog Lights.
I don't really want to cut my bumpers but I can not find any OEM fog lights online for the 2004 RSX. The ones on Ebay all seem to want me to slice up my bumper...
Anyone know a way around this? The weather is quite bad here nowadays and visibility is terrible and I want to add some fog lights to my RSX.
5. Brake Pads and Rotors.
I had my brake pads and rotors changed at a shop around a year ago and these days, watching Youtube videos has made me realise that changing brakes seems not too hard.
My questions are:
A. Do we have to change rotors every time as well?
B Lifespan of the average rotor?
C. Best value and type of brake pads for a car in general or RSX in general?
D What's the best lubricants and anti-seize and other fluids to use during brake maintenance / replacement? Some say use copper only for anti-seize etc.
I think these are all the things I plan to do in the coming months after my cold winter passes.
Thank you for taking the time to read my thread.
:fistbump:
Just beginning to understand my RSX. A few questions from a novice! Thanks all :)
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